Pujols said he felt relieved after finally reaching the achievement, as he had been pressing in recent at-bats with the milestone just one connection away.

He also credited his wife, Deidre, who texted him during the game and told him to treat it like any other at-bat.

"Before I hit the home run, she told me, 'You need to stay back and just look for a pitch to hit!'" he said. "I'm glad that I listened to her."

When he stepped up to bat in a two-out, bases-loaded situation on the cusp of No. 600, the tension perhaps would have been felt ten-fold. But Pujols said he was as relaxed as he had been since hitting No. 599 against Atlanta on May 31; he was simply trying to get a good pitch to hit and knock a base hit.

"Really in that at-bat, I was really calm," he said. "I didn't know I was going to hit it out, but I knew I was going to have a good at-bat, because it was a different feeling than the first two at-bats that I had, and I was able to put a good swing on that slider."

At 37 years and 138 days old, Pujols is the fourth-youngest to hit 600 career home runs. He could very well see his name rise higher in the all-time ranks, but he insists he doesn't concern himself with numbers.

"I'm just glad to be on that list," he said. "It's a pretty special feeling. You look at all the players that come through the league, to play so long to be No. 9 -- it's pretty special.

"Don't get me wrong; it's an honor and privilege to be named in the same list and same sentence with those guys, but I really try to stay focused on my goal, and that's to go and be the best teammate I can be. And hopefully, help this organization to win. That's the truth."